Charter schools coming to Montgomery doesn't appear to be a question of if, but rather when. Two applications are pending, both with hopes of opening for the 2019 school year, and one anticipating a decision next month.

State Superintendent Eric Mackey is expected to make a decision in November on the Montgomery Education Foundation's application to operate a conversion charter within the Montgomery public school system.

The plan for the conversion charter involves the education foundation gradually taking over four current Montgomery public schools: Davis and Nixon Elementary schools, Bellingrath Middle and Lanier High schools. Set up as a feeder pattern, year one would involve starting with one of the elementary schools, then adding the other three schools over the next few years. For example, depending on what the contract states, the second elementary could be added in 2020, Bellingrath in 2021 and Lanier in 2022. This will allow children to stay within the charter system as they graduate out of elementary and into middle and high school.

Initially submitting its application in March, the Education Foundation received conditional approval by former interim state superintendent Ed Richardson in May. Richardson requested additional information on the charter school plan and the foundation provided that by the August deadline.

Since its submission, an internal and external review team has evaluated the Education Foundation's application and will make a suggestion to Mackey by Nov. 1. Mackey, technical head of the Montgomery school district while its under state intervention, acts as the authorizer, rather than the board.

Following Alabama’s approval of charter schools in 2015, with the law ranked No. 5 in the nation by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, MPS applied to be a charter school authorizer. But MPS lacked the capacity and financing to handle the process and the system’s application was put on hold, said Kristy Hatch, an education specialist with MPS, during Thursday's school board work session.

Because of the intervention, Richardson, the former president of the state's charter school commission, was able to fast-track approval of MPS as an authorizer. He saw charter schools as a potential tool to improve academic achievement in the district.

Once intervention ends, it is unclear if MPS will keep its authorizer status or have to be approved again.

Logan Searcy, the State Department of Education's public charter schools education administrator, said the decision will be based on whether the system has developed the needed resources, suggesting that while MPS might not need to reapply, it will be re-evaluated. Searcy said the department is working with the system to help develop those resources.

There is not a clear timetable for the approval of the other charter's application. LEAD Academy, a start-up charter school also hoping to open its doors in 2019, cannot be approved until the Alabama Supreme Court rules on whether or not it received enough votes from the Alabama Public Charter School Commission in February.

The decision was appealed to the Supreme Court after a local judge ruled LEAD did not receive enough votes, the basis of a lawsuit brought forth by the Alabama Education Association.

By law, the board is meant to have 10 members, with six votes representing a majority. The board has just nine members though, and the application received a 5-1 vote, with two members absent and one member abstaining. The AEA argued the vote did not represent a majority of the commission.

The court has no deadline for its decision on LEAD’s application.

For a conversion charter, the schools have their own governing board that controls staffing, financing and curriculum, but the schools still fall within MPS.

Students zoned for the conversion charter schools receive priority enrollment. If approved, for example, students zoned for Nixon would still attend Nixon as a charter school, unless parents chose an alternative Montgomery public school.

As a startup, however, LEAD would not be a part of MPS, so students would need to apply to the charter and would be selected through a lottery.

There is a difference in funding too, with all federal, state and local funding following the student from MPS into the conversion charter. For the startup, federal, state and a portion of local dollars follow the student.

Additionally, a startup will begin within a new building and has the option to appeal if the local board hands down a denial. A conversion has no appealing option.

Both types of charters must reach benchmarks set in a five-year accountability contract with MPS, giving MPS the power to close the charter if the criteria is not met.

The schools are not private and cannot have any religious affiliations, nor charge tuition.

The teachers hired do not receive tenure and don’t have to be certified.

The Oct. 11 school board work session illustrated the level of confusion surrounding what a charter school will look like and how it differs from a traditional public school. Board members asked several questions regarding the funding sources, accountability and teacher certification.

Ann Sikes, the Education Foundation’s executive director, said the first priorities, if approved, would be to identify the school’s leader, and to answer any questions community members and parents have to avoid speculation and misinformation.

“Nothing is more important than the immediate opportunity to sit down and make sure everyone has every question answered,” Sikes said. “We see this as small meetings, large meetings, front porch meetings … so people can make sure they get real answers.”

Having the school set up and in place by August 2019, which will include forming a board and hiring faculty, shouldn’t be a problem, Sikes said.

“We will not open if we’re not ready, but we haven’t just been sitting around and waiting. We’ve been doing a tremendous amount of work to get ready … we won’t be starting from zero,” she said.

The reason the foundation chose to pursue starting charter schools is because of the need for more community engagement within the public school system, Sikes said.

“The system has been very vocal in saying it really is going to take the whole community. (The Montgomery Education Foundation) felt like using conversion charters is one tool to get an accelerated model going that could help create new environments where children can be more successful,” she said. “We are trying to take existing schools, honoring those students, those parents, the history of the school and history of the neighborhoods.”

“Given our intent — to work with the district — we felt this is right place for us to be willing to invest and offer that work,” she said.

The reason for the feeder pattern, rather than starting one school, is because, “we felt it was important to have the continuum — the same culture, leadership and environment that they got started with,” Sikes said.